'Open Health' Movement

The open source movement that started several decades ago has slowly morphed into something much bigger - a comprehensive global 'Open Movement'. The movement now encompasses open source, open access, open data, open standards, open hardware, as well as open business models, open government, open leadership, and much more.

This huge social movement has begun to have a major impact on multiple industries or sectors of the economy. Just look at the growing level of activity associated with Open Health, Open Education, Open Government, Open Agriculture, etc.  See the COSI Open Technologies & Solutions web site.

There are now literally tens of millions of people around the world actively involved in the 'Open Health Movement'.  The movement has slowly grown in scope and strength over the past decades to become a major force helping to reshape the world we live in, the way we do business, and improving healthcare being provided to hundreds of millions of people across the globe.

Both here on COSI Open Health and at Open Health News, we have also been slowly shifting our coverage from news and information about open source health IT systems to the more comprehensive Open Health Movement. We now cover topics such as open access, open data, open standards, and open business models in the healthcare sector. Use our 'search engine' to see the many articles, news clips, studies, and links to resources related to these topics.

Stay tuned for a more comprehensive feature story on the growing 'Open Health Movement'.

Observations on 'Open Access', Health Industry Reports, & 2012 Predictions

I always look forward to the summary of findings in the latest research reports about Health IT systems from Gartner, Forrester, Chilmark, and others. They do great work, but I have to be satisfied with the summaries because I just can't afford to buy the complete reports for $3000-$5000. Like so many individuals and organizations around the world, I have to rely on the release of free and 'open access' reports. Links to examples of these can be found on Open Health News (OHN).

Having said that, the latest blog from Chilmark Research is out offering their findings and predictions for the healthcare technology markets in 2012. Once again, a good piece of work. Here are some highlights:

• They are seeing some modest success and adoption of EHRs as a result of the HITECH Act, but the preponderance of such success is at hospitals that already have had some form of an EHR system in place
• They are still not seeing wide-spread EHR adoption at the ambulatory care facility level, especially among smaller medical practices,
• There will be plenty more EHR sales in the year to come, but they also see EHR sales growth begin to plateau and level off by the end of 2012.
• They see far too many vendors in this market - over 300 EHR vendors alone.

These findings and predictions by Chilmark seem right on target. I have previously blogged about the large number of EHR vendors that have seen their products easily certified.  I also strive to let others know about the many high quality, free and open source EHR systems now available, especially for small practice, e.g. OpenEMR, OSCAR, OpenMRS.  Check out the COSI Open Health list of Open Source EHR Systems.

In any case, take the time to read their latest blog on predictions for the healthcare technology market in 2012 at Chilmark Research. You'll find it interesting. 

Add your observations and predictions about Health IT in 2012.

Open Source Mega-Companies & the 'Open Health' Marketplace?!

Senior executives and investors, pay attention. Hundreds of major open source companies have been established and are now succeeding in the 'Open Source' & 'Open Health' marketplace.  Think Red Hat, Clear Health, KitWare, MedSphere, Black Duck, Mirth, Alfresco, Canonical, Open Dental, Indivica, and many more. See Open Health News (OHN) Resource Section.  

Open source software has had a revolutionary impact on the software industry. With the success and ubiquity of open source projects, most enterprise and commercial software development teams now mix open source with internal code to shorten software development schedules and save on the development costs.  See BlackDuck Open Source ROI

The latest reports from Gartner, Forrester, Cenatic, and many other news and industry research organizations all point to the continuing growth of the open source marketplace. In fact, Red Hat recently became the first open source software company to generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue, a watershed moment for the global open source business community.  See COSI Open Health Studies & Reports.

Open source software has obtained a significant share of several markets, such as web servers, server operating systems, desktop operating systems, web browsers, databases, e-mail and other IT infrastructure solutions. A major driving force behind the adoption and growth of open source solutions in the U.S. has been the emergence and growth of open source software product and service providers with a profitable, sustainable economic model.  See Cenatic Report on International Use of Open Source Software – 2010

It would seem the time is right to start building more 'mega' companies in this space like Red Hat. Companies in the Open Source, and especially the Open Health space, are ripe for the picking with growth as far as the eye can see. Certainly Oracle has been busy picking up open source properties. What do you think is going to happen?

A recent survey by Gartner, Inc. found that more than half of organizations surveyed have adopted open-source software (OSS) solutions as part of their IT strategy. Nearly one-third of respondents cited benefits of flexibility, increased innovation, shorter development times and faster procurement processes as reasons for adopting OSS solutions.  See Gartner Report

Looking forward to your comments and a 'heads up' about any movement in this arena.

'Open' Health Solutions for Church Healing Ministries

Many large church denominations operate or support hospitals and clinics in your community and around the world. One of the keys to providing high quality health care in these hospitals and clinics is the ability of clinicians to access health information on patients when and where it is most needed.

Along that line, the following are links to selected web sites offering innovative free and 'open' health information technologies (IT), tools, and solutions for use by religious organizations and individuals involved in health care and healing ministries.

• Christian Care Ministry - Equipping Christians to achieve biblical health.
• Consumer Health Information - Providing health care consumers with links to a wide range of free and open source health information & software tools.
• Directory of Charitable Religious Health Care Organizations - Links to major religious health care organizations around the world.
• Healing Ministries & Open Health IT Systems - Detailed blog about the use of free open source Health IT systems for Christian health ministries.
• Mobile Health Apps - Links to many free or low cost health & wellness apps for consumers and clinicians.
• Personal Health Record (PHR) Systems - Free and open source PHR systems available for use by patients in the U.S. and around the world.
• Public Health Information Systems - Links to open source software, tools, and public health information sources.

Take the time to visit the COSI 'Open' Health and COSI 'Open' Religious Technology web sites.  Also, check out this related blog on Healing Ministries & 'Open' Health IT Systems.

Do you know of other free and open source solutions for religious organizations and their followers that you would like to recommend? Share them with us.

'Open' Government Health Information Portals for Consumers

There are many free Health Information portals that have been developed and made available online by the government for consumers to obtain trusted information about a wide range of health related issues, e.g. nutrition, cancer, womens health, etc.  Take a quick look at some of these and share the links to these portals with friends and family.

•  Cancer.Gov
•  NCCAM.Gov
•  FoodSafety.Gov
•  HealthCare.Gov
•  HealthFinder.Gov
•  HealthIT.Gov
•  MedLine Plus
•  Nutrition.Gov
•  HealtheVet.Gov
•  WomensHealth.Gov

There are many other government web sites providing information to the public on worker safety by OSHA, public health by the CDC, Medicare & Medicaid benefits, medical research, health insurance, and much more.  USA.Gov will help you find many of these other sites.

Let us know about any other great Health Information portal developed by the government for consumers that you would like to  recommend. 

Healing Ministries & 'Open' Health IT Systems

Introduction

As shown in the table below, healing is one of the central themes of the gospels presented in the New Testament of the Bible. During his ministry, Jesus healed lepers, blind men, the lame, a hemorrhaging woman, the demon-possessed, and even raised the dead.In the book of Acts, Jesus involved his disciples in the work of healing. That book contains a number of accounts of healing by Christ's followers. The epistles of Paul discuss healing as a gift of the Spirit.

Christian spiritual healing is often seen as healing through faith, prayer, spiritual disciplines, and the dominance of spiritual values in one’s quest for wholeness. However, most Christians understand that healing is not limited to spiritual methods alone. Spiritual methods often rely on the overlapping use of the physical and psychological methods of healing in modern medicine.

New Testament Verses in the Gospels About Healing

Jesus Heals a Leper - Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16 Jesus Heals Roman Officer’s Servant - Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10 Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-In-Law - Matthew 8:14-15 Jesus Heals the Many - Matthew 8:15-16; Luke 4:38-39 Jesus Heals Two Men - Matthew 8:28-32; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39 Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man - Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26 Jesus Heals Woman Who Touched His Cloak - Matthew 9:20-22; Luke 8:43-48 Jesus Heals the Officials Daughter - Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56 Jesus Heals Two Blind Men - Matthew 9:27-31 Jesus Heals Many People - Matthew 9:35

The Healing Mission - Matthew 10:7-8; Luke 9:1-6 Jesus Heals Man with Paralyzed Hand - Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11 Jesus Heals a Crowd - Matthew 12:15-16 Jesus Heals a Blind and Dumb Man - Matthew 12:22; Luke 11:14 Jesus Heals a Woman’s Daughter - Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30 Jesus Heals Large Crowds - Matthew 15:30-31 Jesus Heals an Epileptic Boy - Matthew 17:15-18; Luke 9:38-43 Jesus Heals Two Blind Men at Jericho - Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43 Jesus Heals a Dumb Man - Matthew 9:32-33

Background

During the early years of Christianity, physical healing was an integral component of Christian life and faith reflecting God's message of love, compassion, and care.

In the 4th century, influenced primarily by Western theologians, Christians began to regard illness as a punishment from God. Over the centuries, spiritual versus physical health increasingly became separate or compartmentalized. During the Dark Ages and subsequent centuries, an attitude toward faith as an intellectual rather than experiential exercise, further diminished the ministry of healing in the church.

Despite these trends, individual Christians continued to be healed and many of their testimonies are recorded in historical records. In the mid-19th century, people began to reaffirm the relationships between faith and healing. Today, a more holistic, integrated view of health has emerged and many churches and faithful believers have become more involved in the Christian ministry of healing.

Today, churches and faithful believers are actively engaged in the ministry of healing. Praying for the sick is a regular ministry or activity of individual believers and church prayer groups in every community. Many churches also offer individual counseling and group therapy as part of their healing ministry. Many large church denominations operate or support hospitals and clinics in your community staffed by highly trained Christian physicians, nurses, technicians, administrators, and hospital chaplains – all committed to the healing ministry.

Health Information Technology (IT)

One of the keys to providing high quality health care today is the ability of clinicians and patients to access health information when and where it is most needed. Today, health information technologies (IT) play an increasingly important role in health care ministries.

 The Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society (HIMSS) defines the Electronic Health Record (EHR) as a longitudinal electronic record of patient health information generated by one or more encounters in any care delivery setting. Included in this information are patient demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data, radiology reports, decision support, outcomes measurement, and many other software modules. The EHR automates and streamlines the clinician's workflow. See http://www.himss.org/ASP/topics_ehr.asp

According to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the Personal Health Record (PHR) is an electronic, lifelong resource of health information needed by individuals to make health decisions. Individuals own and manage the information in their PHR, which comes from healthcare providers and the individual. The PHR should be maintained in a secure and private environment, with the individual determining rights of access to the data it contains. The PHR does not replace the legal electronic health records(EHR) systems health care provider organizations use. See http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/pub_bok1_027351.html

Findings & Recommendations

Many Christian health care organizations cannot afford to acquire information technologies (IT) and systems needed to further enhance their healing ministries and programs. Fortunately, there are now many high quality, free and 'open source' administrative and health IT software systems now available. Two sources churches or individuals should check out when looking for information about tools that can be used in their healing ministries include COSI Open Health and Open Health News.

The following are some examples of free and open source EHR and PHR solutions that should be considered:

EHR Systems – OSCAR; OpenEHR; OpenMRS; ClearHealth; VistA

PHR Systems – Indivo; iHealth Record; MS HealthVault; AHIMA myPHR

* Also, check out the COSI Open Religious Technology web site.

Are you using Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in your individual or church healing ministry? Tell us about it.

Nutrition & Diet: Free Open Source and/or Low Cost Solutions

There are a growing number of high quality, free open source and/or low cost  Diet & Nutrition software products available for consumers.  They include software applications that run on your personal computer (PC), laptop, or smartphone.  Check them out.

Diet & Nutrition Software for PCs & Laptops

Here are several low cost or free open source Nutrition software products you can download for use on your PC or laptop:

CRON-O-Meter    NUT Nutrition Software

NutriBase     NutriGenie

For vendors or users of the open source VistA electronic health record (EHR) system, check out the Nutrition & Food Service module.  See VistA Clinical Software Library .

Diet & Nutrition Smartphone Apps

Check out this selection of popular free or low cost Diet & Nutrition mobile apps for smartphones:

Calorie Counter Calorie Tracker  The Carrot Fooducate Health Cubby

Libra Weight Manager Lose It! Noom Weight Loss Recipe Search Slim Down Shopping List

You might also want to go directly to Android Market, Blackberry App World,  Verizon Media Store, and Apple iTunes to view other free or low cost Health & Wellness apps for your smartphone.

Diet & Nutrition Web Sites

Finally, here are several free, online web sites focused on providing Nutrition & Diet information and tools worth browsing.

CDC Nutrition Basics FoodSafety.Gov HealthGuide.Org

ADA & EatRight.Org USDA Food & Nutrition Information WebMD Healthy Eating & Diet

Remember, a poor diet can have an injurious impact on your health. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet.

Have you run across a good free open source Nutrition software product you would like to share with us? Tell us about it.

Grid Computing & 'Open' Health Grids

Overview of Grid Computing

Grid computing provides the ability to perform higher throughput computing by taking advantage of many networked computers to form the equivalent of a virtual 'super computer'. Grid computing utilizes the unused capacity of many separate computers connected by a network to solve large-scale computational problems. With grid computing, organizations can collaborate and pool both internal and trusted external computer resources to tackle projects that require an extremely large capacity of computing power.

Grid Computing Organizations

Some of the key organizations involved with grid solutions and activities include:

• Globus Alliance - www.globus.org
• HealthGrid -  www.healthgrid.org
• Open Grid Forum (OGF) – www.ogf.org
• Open Science Grid (OSG) Consortium - www.opensciencegrid.org
• World Community Grid - www.worldcommunitygrid.org

Grid Publications

The following are a few selected publications focused exclusively on grids that one should consider looking over:

• Primeur Magazine
• Grid Computing News 
• Journal of Grid Computing 

Grids in Health Care

Grids are being used in healthcare in a number of ways. There are at least three types of grids that have emerged. There are: (1) computational grids being used to solve large-scale computation problems in healthcare research; (2) data grids that don’t share computing power but instead provide a standardized way to swap data internally and externally for data mining and decision support; and (3) collaborative grids that let dispersed users share information and work together on extremely large data sets.

Some specific examples of collaborative 'open' grid projects in the field of bioinformatics and health care include:

• BioSimGrid - www.biosimgrid.org
• BIRN Cardiovascular Research Grid - http://www.birncommunity.org/current-users/cvrg/
• Folding@Home - http://folding.stanford.edu
• Sealife Project - http://www.biotec.tu-dresden.de/sealife
• Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) - http://cabig.nci.nih.gov
• FightAIDS@Home - http://fightaidsathome.scripps.edu
• Virolab Grid - http://www.virolab.org/about-virolab.html

Global collaboration, open solutions, and innovation (COSI) are key characteristics of  grid projects. If you have been an active participant in a health care related grid project, tell us about it.  Is there a specific project you would like us all to know about?

 

Risk Management & Open EHR Solutions

As reported in a recent article in the online Fierce Health IT magazine, "Financial issues for a software company could result in medical procedures going unscheduled and needy patients going without beds at a hospital across the pond, providing a cautionary tale for U.S. hospitals about the importance of vendor selection." There are some real risks to be considered when choosing an electronic health record (EHR) system for your organization. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONCHIT) web site, there are 1,049 EHR products now certified (that's hard for me to imagine).  That does not guarantee that the companies and the products they are offering are risk free.

You can find a lot of small and mid-sized companies today selling EHR systems and other health IT solutions to hospitals, clinics, and physician offices. Over time, there is a real risk that a fair number of these will not survive in this rough and tumble marketplace. If the company you bought your product from goes under, switching to a new vendor and moving your data to a new system can be a costly, time consuming, and troublesome process. One of the many arguments for major 'open source' health IT solutions is that there is community of users, developers, and multiple vendors supporting the product that you can turn to when needed. If you want to reduce your risk when choosing an EHR system, you should seriously consider choosing a larger company with a good track record over time OR go with a major open source solution like OpenEMR, OSCAR, OpenMRS, or VistA.

Have you lived through an experience where your health IT vendor went bankrupt or support for its product was discontinued? Tell us about it.

Top 'Open' Health IT Picks for 2011

Based on number of users, community support, quality of software, and longevity,  the following 'open source' or 'public domain' health information technology (HIT) systems have risen to the top of Groen's HIT List for 2011. Check them out –

caBIG                                    CARE2X                                  ClearHealth                       

Epi Info                                  FreeMed                                Globus Toolkit

iPath                                      Mirth                                      OpenClinica       

Open Dental                          OpenEMR                               OpenMRS                          

OpenHRE                               OSCAR                                   RODS                                                    

RPMS                                    VistA                                       WHO HealthMAPPER

                                                                                               

For information on some of the many other prominent 'open' health IT software solutions, visit the Resources section of Open Health News (OHN) at http://www.openhealthnews.com/resources/software-applications

 

Do you know of another high quality, widely used open source health IT system that deserve to be mentioned? Tell us about it. 

Peter Groen

COSI 'Open' Health IT 

Notes From Hawaii on Open HIT System

I’m finding it surprisingly hard to write a blog while enjoying my prolonged winter stay in Hawaii.  But I do want to pass along a couple of quick observations from paradise.  

Over the years, Hawaii has given rise to a number of individuals and organizations that have played a key role in collaboratively developing and implementing innovative ‘open’ health IT initiatives. I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge them. They include the Pacific Telehealth & Technology Hui (http://www.pacifichui.org/hui/index.html) and the University of Hawaii Telecommunications & Information Policy Group (http://tipg.net).  They continue to be leaders in the field of interoperable and open source health IT solutions and have willingly shared them with other states. I know several states and territories such as West Virginia, California, Oklahoma, American Samoa and others have benefited from the work being done in Hawaii.

Has your organization or state taken advantage of the work being done in Hawaii on innovative ‘open’ health IT systems? Their work with the VistA and RPMS electronic health record (EHR) systems and other open source or public domain software solutions?

Download eBook - Emerging Technologies & ‘Open’ HIT Solutions for the 21st Century

Medical Informatics: Emerging Technologies & ‘Open’ Health IT Solutions for the 21st Century

A free advance copy of this eBook is now available for you to download. It is published with an open copyright license so feel free to copy and share it with others.

Meeting the health care needs of people in the 21st century continues to be a challenging proposition as costs continue to rise, reimbursement goes down, and expectations for quality care remain high, and demand for expensive new treatments increase. Health care professionals, politicians and patients have realized that the current health care system in the United States and many other countries is not where it needs to be and must continue to be transformed.

In this book we talk about some of the major emerging medical informatics solutions that will help transform health care in the 21st century. The next 10-20 years will be exciting times in the field of medical informatics as many innovative solutions emerge and are put into practice such as:

·         Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Systems

·         Personal Health Record (PHR) Systems

·         Health Information Exchange (HIE) Networks

·         Genomic Information Systems & BioRepositories

·         Robotics & Healthcare

·         'Open Source' Health IT Systems

·         Wearable Health IT Solutions

·         Implantable Health IT Technologies

·         Grid Computing in Healthcare

·         Implantable Health IT Systems

·         Nanotechnology & NanoMedicine

·         Mobile Systems & Medical Apps

·         Virtual Reality & Health eGames

·         Health Information & Social Networking Systems

All of these emerging health IT solutions have great potential to improve quality of care, increase patient safety, and lower costs over the long term. However, we must also be aware that these powerful new technologies can affect people's lives in both positive and negative ways. We need to set aside the time to adequately explore and discuss ethical issues and concerns raised by the use and potential abuse of some of these new technical solutions.

Download a Free Advance Copy of this eBook Medical Informatics: Emerging Technologies and ‘Open’ Health IT Solutions for the 21st Century Version 2.0 January 1, 2011

Public Health Information & Technology

The following are links to the web sites of just a few of the many collaborative, 'open' public health IT projects, software products, services, or health information sources worth checking out. They are all available in the 'public domain' or as 'open source' solutions.

• AHRQ Healthcare Cost & Utilization Project (HCUP) - A free, on-line query system that provides access to health statistics and information on hospital inpatient and emergency department utilization.
• CDC Public Health Information Network (PHIN) - A national CDC initiative to improve the capacity of public health practitioners and researchers to use and exchange a range of information electronically.
• CDC WONDER Public Health Online Databases - Speeds and simplifies access to a wide array of public health information and statistics collected by the CDC to state and local health departments, the Public Health Service, and the academic public health community.
• Epi Info & Epi Map - A free, public domain software tool that can generate epidemiologic statistics, tables, graphs, and maps.
• Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN)  - A public health surveillance system that monitors drug-related visits to hospital emergency departments (EDs) and drug-related deaths.
• FDA MedWatch - A gateway for finding clinically important safety information and reporting serious problems with human medical products.
• Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network - A WHO technical collaboration of health institutions and networks which pool human and technical resources for the rapid identification, confirmation and response to outbreaks of international importance.
• Immunization Information Systems - A tool to increase and sustain high vaccination coverage by consolidating vaccination records of children from multiple providers, generating reminder and recall vaccination notices, and providing vaccination coverage assessments.
• Partners in Information Access for Public Health - A collaboration of U.S. government agencies, public health organizations, and health sciences libraries which provides timely, convenient access to selected public health resources on the Internet.
• PopHealth Reporting Project - An open source tool that integrates with a provider’s electronic health record (EHR) system to produce summary quality measures on the provider’s patient population and streamlines the reporting of these measures.
• Public Health Institute - An independent, nonprofit California based organization dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people across the nation and around the world.
• Real-time Outbreak & Disease Surveillance (RODS) - Free software for public health surveillance, RODS collects and analyzes disease surveillance data in real time.

These are just a sub-set of the many other 'open' health IT solutions listed on the COSI 'Open' Health IT web site, e.g. Open EHRs, Open PHRs, Open HIEs, Mobile Apps, etc.

Are you or your organization using another free and 'open' public health IT solution that you would be willing to share with us?  Tell us about it.

Alternative 'Green' Energy Solutions for Health IT Systems

Your health care organization's vision for the future should include having more and more of your health information technology (HIT) infrastructure powered by alternative "hybrid" energy systems that tap into solar, wind, hydro, and traditional electrical energy sources. 

In the health care industry there are compelling reasons to acquire and implement hybrid energy systems. These include providing continuity of care during major natural and man-made disasters and providing power for health IT systems in remote locations around the world where there is unreliable electrical service. 

In early 2000, a preliminary analysis of solar powered computer systems surfaced very few examples or references related to this subject. However, the times have changed. More efficient solar energy systems are now being produced at lower costs which are becoming attractive alternatives, especially as the price of oil climbs ever higher.

The number of examples where Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solar energy components are being used to power computer systems has increased dramatically, including installations by health care facilities in a wide range of  locations around the world. The following examples focus primarily on the current status of solar power solutions as they have been deployed in health care settings around the world. 

Health IT Systems in Scotland - At Napier University's Merchiston campus in Scotland solar panels are being installed that will generate enough electricity to power up to 80 of the 500 computers at the state-of-the-art Jack Kilby Centre. See http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=363002005

 

Solar Energy Project Enhances CDC Health Care Facility in Kenya - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Health Initiative facility in Homa Bay, Kenya, benefits from a solar energy power system that delivers reliable power and reduce losses of vital medicine and laboratory test samples. 

BioRegion and Mongolian Hospital - BioRegion's solar project in Renchinlhumbe, Mongolia, focuses on two strategic community centers—a boarding school and a hospital. See http://www.bioregions.org/pdfs/solar.pdf

 

USAID & Kakuuto Hospital in Uganda - USAID youth volunteers are working with "Solar Light for Africa", a faith-based non-governmental organization, in providing solar power to clinics, orphanages, schools and churches. This includes solar power for computers. See http://www.usaid.gov/stories/uganda/fp_uganda_solar.pdf#search='solar%20powered%20hospital%20computers'

 

SELF and the Solomon Islands – The SELF organization is now bringing solar power to approximately a dozen rural health clinics throughout Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands.  They are providing dependable solar electricity for critical medical devices including computers, microscope, oxygen concentrators, and dental equipment. See http://www.self.org/sol_islands2.asp

 

Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service Corporation (MONOC) - In 2005, the largest emergency medical services agency in New Jersey flipped the switch on a 119 kilowatt solar energy system that provides about 20 percent of its electricity needs while contributing to a cleaner, healthier environment. MONOC is believed to be the only major health care organization in the state to invest in such a renewable energy system. 

SUN in Haiti and the Congo - SUN and partner Dinh Solar Company have developed a pioneering solar medical autoclave, photovoltaic power generator, and solar hot water and disinfectant system for remote hospitals in the villages of Morbin Crochu in Haiti, and Bulape in south central Congo. Photovoltaics (PV) provide electricity for lighting, refrigeration of medicines, a computer system, and an x-ray machine. See http://www.sunutility.com/html_pg/healthcare.html

Finally, the Alternative 'Green' Energy and 'Open Source' software movements have an underlying philosophy that is very similar. Both appeal to the ideas of:

• Independence
• Freedom
• Thriftiness
• National Security
• Improved Health Status
• Creativity & Innovation 
• Being Good Stewards of Resources

Do you know of other examples of health IT systems being powered by alternative energy sources somewhere in the U.S. or around the world? Please share these with us.

Selected References American Wind Energy Association - http://www.awea.org COSI Green Technology – http://green.cositech.net ECOMall - http://www.ecomall.com/biz/solarcat.htm  EnerSol - http://www.enersol.org/aboutus.html Green Guide for Health Care - www.gghc.org MicroHydroPower.Net - http://microhydropower.net/index.php   National Renewable Energy Laboratory -  http://www.nrel.gov Sustainable Village - http://www.thesustainablevillage.com/projects/ghana.html Solar Wind Works -  http://www.solarwindworks.com/index.htm Virtual Explorers - http://www.virtualexplorers.org/ARD/Dolphin/solar.htm

COSI 'Open' Health - Web Site Enhancements

We continue to enhance the web site COSI 'Open' Health with new content. We have added a number of new links, studies, and video presentations. The following are links to selected 'open source' or public domain health information & education web sites, software, tools, and organizations on the web site:

Health Information

• AAFP FamilyDoctor 
• AHRQ Health IT Adoption Toolkit & Training Modules
• American Medical Association (AMA)
• HealthCare.Gov
• iTriage Health
• HHS HealthFinder.Gov
• National Clinical Guidelines Clearinghouse
• NCI Cancer.Gov
• NLM MedLine Plus
• WebMD

Education Tools & Software

• Kuali
• Health Education Assests Library (HEAL)
• Health Education eGames
• Moodle
• OpenCourseWare
• OpenSimulator
• Sakai
• WikiMedia Commons

* Also visit the COSI Open Education web site

Check out these links and the web site. If you have any other sites you think should be added to the web site, email groenpj@cs.com